Tested by Fire
by Tobias
Summary: She was two hours late, and he wouldn't admit, but he was worried for her. But when Inuyasha travels through the well to fetch her, he never guessed what he would find. He never knew that his relationship with Kagome would grow because of a test by fire.


"She was supposed to be back two hours ago…" Inuyasha grumbled as he sat up in the Goshinboku. "So why don't you go and get her? You know you want to, so just do it. Suck up your pride and go," Shippo said, trying to convince him. Instead Shippo got a death glare. "Quiet." He was told. "Why, you hear something?"

"No… I just don't want to hear your voice," Inuyasha stated in an icy tone. Shippo pouted, before leaving to go play with some of the village children.

Knowing that Shippo was no longer within hearing range, Inuyasha scoffed, finally taking off down the well…

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Landing at the bottom of the well in Kagome's era, Inuyasha sniffed the air to see if he could begin to track her.

But the scent he picked up wasn't her's… it was smoke. Heavy.

Inuyasha quickly jumped out of the well and busted through the door. The first thing he saw were fire trucks. Lots of them. They all appeared to be spraying water on the house!

_No, no, no!_ Inuyasha yelled inside his head. He quickly found Souta, Ms. H, and the old man… _One… two… three… where's Kagome?_ That's when he smelled the tears.

"Where's Kagome?!" Inuyasha yelled. Ms. H didn't even look at him. It took Inuyasha one second to guess what happened. He looked at the house as a part of it collapsed.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha bellowed, taking off for the house.

"Inuyasha, wait!" Souta called after him.

"Hey, you! Get away from there!" A firefighter demanded.

Inuyasha ignored him. He had one thing on his mind as he busted through the door.

"That structure isn't safe! We can't send anyone in to get him… shit!" He heard someone yell from outside. "We can't get the girl! And we can't get that suicidal guy! Shit!"

Inuyasha held his arm out to cover his mouth from the smoke.

"Kagome! Kagome can you hear me!?"

There was a coughing sound. It was weak, but he still heard it.

"Kagome say something!"

The whole structure seemed like it was about to collapse. "Where are you! Give me a clue!"

_Damn it. I can't get a whiff of her scent in all this smoke._

"I-Inuyasha…" It was weaker than the cough, but it was still there.

"Kagome! Don't fall asleep! Whatever you do! Whisper something, bang on something! I can't find you!"

There was a soft patting sound that could be barely heard above the crackling of the flames.

_She's upstairs._

Inuyasha ran up the stairs and into her room. Gently picking Kagome up, he went back down the stairs, and was about to make a break for the door, when a support beam came down.

_Shit. There is no other way out. This entire place has gone up in flames._

Inuyasha did the only thing he could. He took off his outer Kimono, and wrapped him and Kagome up in it. He layed on the floor, and drew Kagome close to him. She coughed a little bit.

"Inuyasha… we… we have to get out…"

"There isn't a way out Kagome," he told her quietly.

"But we'll both die!"

"We'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."

"They're on the floor! Get a hose and some men in there!" Someone yelled out.

"It's not safe!" Another person shouted.

Inuyasha heard Ms. H's quiet voice coming from outside.

"Please, Inuyasha… don't let her die… please…" She sobbed.

Inuyasha drew Kagome closer. "Stay with me Kagome. Don't fall asleep."

Kagome buried her face into Inuyasha's chest even more. "Inuyasha, I'm scared."

Another beam collapsed. Not too far from where the two lay. "Don't be Kagome."

"We're not going to make it," she whispered.

The fire seemed to grow intense with every passing second. Inuyasha was beginning to have his doubts too.

"Then we'll go together."

To Inuyasha, Kagome seemed to relax hearing that.

The smoke level seemed to rise all of the sudden. Kagome could feel Inuyasha begin to take ragged breaths. "You ok?" She whispered. "I'll be fine."

"We need to move now or they are not going to make it!" Someone yelled from outside.

"Fine! But be really careful!"

A moment later Kagome heard someone speaking to her. Inuyasha's ragged breathing had seemed to stop.

"Miss? Can you hear me?"

"Yes!"

"We're going to get you out. Can you stand?"

"Yes, please, hurry."

"Come on!"

"Inuyasha, come on. We're getting out… Inuyasha? Inuyasha!"

"We need to go!" A fireman grabbed Kagome and began to help her out.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha didn't move when another fire fighter picked him up on his back and began to carry him out.

"Move back!" The fire fighter yelled at Kagome when she ran to Inuyasha as they set him down on the ground for the paramedics. She pushed her way through them and dropped to her knees right near Inuyasha.

The paramedics that were once trying to pull her away from him, now stood speechless as she just stared at him, whispering 'no' over and over again.

Inuyasha's eyes were closed, and he didn't appear to be breathing. Kagome couldn't move.

_This can't be. He can't be dead. Not him. He's survived much worse than this!_

"Wake up Inuyasha, please…"

A fire fighter off on the sidelines watched the whole scene unfold.

"Stupid half-brother. Five hundred years later and he get's himself killed in a fire. Baka, I couldn't even kill him." Sesshomaru, now five hundred years older, whispered to himself.

Kagome quietly ran her hands through Inuyasha's silver hair, stopping at his dog ears, before she let herself fall into her own personal nightmare. "You said we would go together. You promised me… Wake up!" She clutched the outer kimono he had given her around her body as it shook with the shattering cry that came from Kagome.

"You can't leave like this. Not like this."

_There has to be something I can do. Something… think Kagome._

Her mind quickly flashed back to a time Kaede had tried to tell her something. But she had been so worried about Inuyasha's injuries at the time to pay complete attention.

"_Aye, child. Now listen carefully. Inuyasha is a stubborn dog. He cares not what is best for him. He cares only for ye, among other smaller things. Therefore, he would surely give his life for thee if need be. In that case, ye will have only a matter of time after his death to bring him back. One hour at the most. Ye must focus your energy at him. It will be hard to do, but with the right about of concentration, ye will be able to do it. Ye are a strong child and I am confident in ye ability."_

Kagome's eyes went wide. _But how? Energy is life… but… how will I do it._

Kagome did something out of instinct that she never would have thought of, she placed her hands on his torso. "Come on Inuyasha… please… for me…"

She heard one of the paramedics behind her. "What is she trying to do? He's gone… Why can't she accept it?"

"Because, not all of us are as cold hearted as you." Another one stated in a tone that would of sent Inuyasha into fear.

Kagome began to feel slightly tired for a reason she couldn't think of. With her last ounce of power, she pushed more energy into Inuyasha before collapsing on him. The medics were about to rush to her side, when Kagome's grandfather yelled at them.

"Don't touch her!"

Both stopped in their tracks. Even Kagome's mom looked at the man with a questioning gaze. His eyes were on the hanyou and his granddaughter.

"Though I do not completely approve of the demon and my granddaughter, they are good for each other. She is merely tired from bringing him back from the dead…" He seemed to trail off.

Ms. H watched the two for a moment, before noticing that Inuyasha's chest was slowly rising again. _She did it… I always knew she could…_

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"Kagome…" A voice called to her.

"Five more minutes," she groaned. There was a slight chuckle.

"Come on Kagome. Open your eyes."

Kagome opened them slowly. It took her a moment to realize that she was on a cot, and her face was buried in something soft and red. She looked up to see two golden eyes staring back at her. A little red cap covered the ears.

"Inuyasha! You made it… I'm glad…" She said, burying her face in his chest again.

Inuyasha chuckled as a small bowl of food was placed on the table next to him.

"You lost everything in the fire. I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Not everything," Kagome whispered back.

Ms. H sat across from him at the shelter. She smiled at the transaction in front of her.

_I knew they were good for each other._

"I'm glad you made it," whispered Kagome.

"You saved my life. I don't know how to repay you for that…" Inuyasha suddenly told her.

"Don't," Kagome said to him out of instinct. "Kami-sama know, you save my life every day."

"Yeah but, I don't bring you back from the dead. I just slay demons."

"And you know what?" Kagome asked him, looking up once again into the amber eyes. "I wouldn't ask for anything more. Well, just one thing…"

"And what would that be?"

"To spend the rest of my life with you…"

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A/N: There it is, one shot fluff. Hope you enjoyed it.


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